CAST REVEALED FOR SHUGA: LOVE, SEX, MONEY
Nairobi, 6 September 2011:
Kenyan actors Christopher Otieno and Wairugi Mutero have won the public casting for the new series of Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, earning themselves a coveted role in the upcoming TV production. The news was revealed today by MTV Base, The Staying Alive Foundation, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and The Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation (HFG).
Christopher and Wairugi won their roles after an online poll voted for by the public. Wairugi will be playing the role of ‘Njoki’ (a party girl who loves to live in the moment) while Christopher will be cast as ‘Slim’, a small-time gangster. They join new cast members Nick Ndeda (Angelo), Nancy Wanjiku (Baby), Brenda Wairimu (Dala), Edward Nyanaro(Rayban), Avril (Miss B’have) and Ikubese Emmanuel - a.k.a. 9con - (Femi). Filming for the new series kicks off this week in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, Lupita Nyong’o, who played the pivotal character of Ayira in Shuga, returns on the other side of the camera as co-director alongside South African veteran Teboho Mahlatsi. Nyong’o, an award-winning documentary maker and actress, who is studying acting at the Yale School of Drama, will also be making a brief cameo appearance in the series.
Commented Lupita Nyong’o, “Shuga was such a groundbreaking series and I am so thrilled to be working on the project again! This time I’ll really have my hands full as I will be both in front of and behind the camera but I can’t wait to be involved in the sequel to this incredible story.”
Also returning for the second series of Shuga are Sharon Olago (Violet), David Omwange (Skola), Nick Mutuma (Leo),Antony Mwangi (Kennedy) and Valerie Kimani (Sindi).
The first series of Shuga was filmed in Kenya in August-September 2009. Starring a young cast of upcoming Kenyan actors and actresses, Shuga told a bitter-sweet tale of love, loss, sex, heartbreak and relationships, set in the clubs, bars, campuses and hangouts of contemporary Nairobi. With a raw and uncut view on the lives of sexually active young Kenyans, Shuga spot lit the risks associated with unprotected sex and the party-hard lifestyles of urban Kenyan youth, told through the interlinked characters and storylines.
“We are very excited to reveal the talented cast that will feature in Shuga: Love, Sex, Money,” said Lydia Murimi, HFG Kenya Country Director. “As partners in Shuga, one of our aims is to ensure that we gave all the hopeful, determined, young Kenyans an opportunity to demonstrate their talent and compete for the roles. Through this, we are expanding G-PANGE as a lifestyle choice for all.”
Commented Georgia Arnold, Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, “Thousands of young people have become involved in the casting of Shuga either through the auditions or via the voting process. We have been astounded by the quality and quantity of the actors we have seen and I look forward to seeing how our new cast members, characters and storylines will interact with our established cast.”
For more information about Shuga: Love, Sex, Money log onto www.mtvshuga.com or www.g-pange.com. To share your thoughts on Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, add #Shuga or #ShugaStar to your tweets.
-ENDS-
For more media information, imagery or comment, please contact:
Alison Reid Rose Thuo
Director of Communications Communication Manager
MTV Networks Africa Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation
T +33 385 30 0636 +254 20 235 1836/9
M +33 609 685 861 +254 712 990 873
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